Verifying Holds Off Raise Cain to Win Indiana Derby By a Nose

July 8th, 2023 by Molly Rollins

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Verifying, Raise Cain, Brad Cox, Indiana Derby, Horseshoe Indianapolis

Verifying, on the inside, holds off Raise Cain to win the Grade 3 Indiana Derby by a nose. (Coady Photography)

The expectations run high when you're a $775,000 son of a Triple Crown winner and a half-brother to a champion, and so when the regally-bred Verifying outlasted a late surge from Raise Cain to win the $300,000 Grade 3 Indiana Derby, all the colt's connections could at last breathe a sigh of relief.

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Twice Grade 1-placed in his nine-start career, the Brad Cox-trained Verifying under jockey Marcelino Pedroza Jr. justified his lofty price tag with his first graded score July 8 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Although he was sent to post as the short 3-5 favorite, the 1 1/6 contest was no cakewalk for the colt, who put away dogged rivals Cagilostro and pacesetting Transect down the lane only to face a furiously closing Raise Cain in the shadow of the wire. Nonetheless, he got the job done and prevailed by the slimmest of noses.

"It was a little stressful," Cox admitted post-race. "He ran well. Marcelino put him in a great trip. He responded. He felt some pressure late from the 2 and finished up well and was able to stay in front at the wire."

The victory was also especially meaningful for Pedroza, the current leading rider at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Closely tracking an early pace of :24.19 and :48.47, Pedroza asked the colt for his run at the six-furlong marker and drove him home.

"(This win) means a lot," Pedroza said. "I've been here five, six years, been riding here long enough. To win this race, the most important at the track, it means a lot."

Grade 3 Gotham Stakes winner Raise Cain rebounded from three disappointing off-the-board efforts with his huge second-place finish. Cagliostro, making a bid up the inside, settled for third.

Verifying, running for the Coolmore partnership of Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor, is a son of Coolmore stallion Justify and out of the Repent mare Diva Delite. His half-sister is the brilliant five-time grade 1 winner Midnight Bisou, the recipient of the champion older female Eclipse Award in 2019.

"He has a big pedigree," Cox said. "We need to get a Grade 1 out of him. I think he's a Grade 1 horse. The Derby is a throw-out. His run in the Blue Grass was a really good run. Once again, I think there's a Grade 1 in him. I'm not certain when and where or what distance. But it was just good to get him back in the win column. He showed a lot of class and determination late, and hopefully, we'll build off of this." – with Jim Mulvihill